In 2016, he starred as the title character in Deadpool. The film received critical and commercial acclaim and set numerous records at the time of its release for an R-rated comedy. For his performance, Reynolds received numerous accolades, including nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. He reprised the role in Deadpool 2, which he also co-wrote, as well as a PG-13 edited version of the latter film entitled Once Upon a Deadpool, in which he, in character, narrates the story to a kidnapped and tied Fred Savage, similar to Savage's film The Princess Bride.

2016–present

In 2016, Reynolds found critical and commercial success with Deadpool, a movie that had been in development as early as 2000. After portraying Wade Wilson / Weapon XI, without the name Deadpool, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he became heavily involved in the development of a Deadpool film. Deadpool featured a reboot of the character, ignoring the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and establishing a new backstory for the character that was closer to the Marvel Comics source material. The film takes place within the larger X-Men film universe, being made possible by the reset timeline in X-Men: Days of Future Past.[30]Deadpool made several box-office records, including: a worldwide opening of $264.9 million from 62 markets, which is the biggest of 2016, the biggest for an R-rated film, and the second biggest for Fox, only behind Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith ($303.9 million).[31][32] It also recorded the biggest IMAX 2D worldwide opening of all time with $27.4 million from 606 IMAX theatres, eclipsing The Dark Knight Rises ($23.8 million).[33][34] The film's financial and critical success led the studio to move forward with a sequel.

Reynolds began filming Deadpool 2 in June 2017, and the film opened on May 18, 2018.[38][39] He will also star as the titular character in a live-action film adaptation of the Detective Pikachu video game in which Reynolds is the voice actor for the CGI detective Pikachu.[40]

In January 2018, Reynolds signed a three-year first look deal with Fox, starting development on a live-action adaptation of the board game Clue, to be penned by Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.[41] Additionally, in April 2019, Reynolds will shoot Free Guy, an action comedy directed by Shawn Levy in which Reynolds will star as “a background character who realizes he’s living in a video game. With the help of an avatar, he tries to prevent the makers of the game from shutting down his world.”[42][43] In 2020, he will return as the voice of Guy in the sequel to The Croods.[44]

Personal life

In 2002, Reynolds began dating Canadian singer Alanis Morissette. They announced their engagement in June 2004.[53] In February 2007, representatives for Morissette and Reynolds announced they had mutually decided to end their engagement.[54] Morissette said her album Flavors of Entanglement was created out of her grief after the break-up. The song "Torch" was written about Reynolds.[55]

Soon after the end of his relationship with Morissette in 2007, Reynolds began dating American actress Scarlett Johansson.[56] The couple announced their engagement in May 2008,[57] and married on September 27, 2008, in a private ceremony near Tofino, British Columbia.[58] On December 14, 2010, Reynolds and Johansson announced that they had separated.[59] Reynolds filed for divorce in Los Angeles on December 23, 2010;[60] Johansson filed her response simultaneously.[61] The divorce was finalized on July 1, 2011.[62]

Reynolds has openly spoken about his lifelong struggle with anxiety, noting in 2018 that he carried out many interviews in the character of Deadpool to alleviate his fears. He became an American citizen circa 2018.[70]

Reynolds acquired a stake in Aviation American Gin in February 2018.[71] He stated that his interest went beyond that of an owner, and that he planned to oversee the product's creative direction as well as taking an active role in the business.[72]

^Posner, Michael (September 1, 2007). "Ryan Reynolds' Disappearing Act". enRoute (Air Canada's inflight magazine). Retrieved June 17, 2010. Reynolds grew up in an Irish-Catholic household in the Vancouver neighbourhood of Kitsilano. As a child, he went to church regularly